Why Gen Z feels guilty about taking lunch breaks — and even skip meals — at work
They’ve g🎃ot full plates, but empty tummies.
Gen Z go-getters are forgoing midday grub while on the job due to guilt, per new data on employee lunch tr🦩ends.
“47% of Gen 🍃Zers miss out on lunch twice or more per week,” researchers , a food-tech company, revealed in their 2024 Lunch Report.
And although 50% of the twenty-somethings consider lunch the “best part of the workday,” according to the findings, membersꦗ of the distressed demographic are “four times more likely than Boomers to feel guilty for taking a break from work.”
It’s a cloud of shame lꦍeaving breadw🉐inners hungry for help.
But it’s no big wonder why younger workers feel weird about tabling assignments to chow down at a br𒐪ea🃏k room table.
Powering through a🦹 workday without stopping is a trend that began during the pandemic — when mos๊t newcomers to the workforce were working from home.
In fact, a 2020 study via Freshly found that 60% of remote workers felt guilty about taking any breaks while on🐬 the clock, f🦩or fear of slowing down productivity.
And, unfortunately, those fears haven’t subsided in🥀 the years since the global health crisis.
A February 2024 survey commissioned by OnePoll on behalf of Pacific Foods determined that 9-to-5ers across the US still aren’t taking as many breaks as they need to in a given day.
Howeve♚r, despite their refusal to pause for a quick bite or beverage, a whopping 87% of employees said breaks are crucial to their personal wellness.
Health professionals agree.
“While taking breaks may seem counterintuitive in today’s busy world, studies show they can be ♑of great benefit to overall wellbeing,” previously stated, “including helping to reduce stress levels, increase productivity, enhance mood, and improve concentration and focus.”
A staggering 98% of worker bees across the generations recognize that lunch breaks can enhanc🦋e job performance, happiness and mental activity, per ezCater’s probe.
And yet, only 38% take a break away from their d🍸esk every day during lunch.
The analysts po🍨lled 5,000 full-time staffers to identify the root of the peckish problem.
They found that 23% of employees worry they 🍸won’t have enough time to get their work do꧂ne if they grab some goodies. Nineteen percent feel they have “too many meetings” to take a break.
But ezCater experts say it🙈’s incumbent o💫n employers to ensure that their teams are breaking bread.
The investigators even found that a shocking 58% of hybrid workers would work on-site three days a week if their b🅺osses pꦅrovided free food.
“Lunch breaks are often sacrificed due to tight schedಌules, but they can play a major role in bringing people together and improving employee well-being,” said Kaushik Subramanian, Chief Revenue Officer of ezCa🔯ter.
“Organizations can be intentional in encouraging employees to take a bre🗹ak,” added Subramanian, “and bringing in lun﷽ch is a great way to do that.”
